NASA News: NASA Aeronautics Is Focus of Research And Technology Roundtable
WASHINGTON -- NASA officials will meet with aeronautics industry,academia and government leaders Feb. 21-22 for the second in a series
of roundtable discussions about future directions for aeronautics
research and technology.
The Aeronautics Research and Technology Roundtable is sponsored by
NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate in Washington and
organized by the National Research Council of the National Academy of
Sciences and National Academy of Engineering.
The 25-member panel includes a broad range of executives,
entrepreneurs and experts representing airframe and engine
manufacturers, general aviation companies, academia, industry
associations and other federal agencies. Its purpose is to facilitate
candid dialogue among participants, to foster greater partnership
among the NASA-related aeronautics community, and, where appropriate,
carry awareness of issues to the wider public.
"We are grateful to the National Research Council for helping us
expand our communication with our colleagues in industry," said
Jaiwon Shin, NASA's associate administrator for aeronautics research.
"The Aeronautics Research and Technology Roundtable has provided an
excellent forum for us to exchange ideas, explore research concepts,
and discuss more vigorous public-private collaboration outside the
competitive arena."
The two-day meeting will be conducted by the National Research
Council's Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board and will be held at
the National Academies' Keck Building at 500 Fifth St. NW in Washington.
On the first day, roundtable members will participate in separate
discussions on issues of interest to four aviation sectors. General
aviation and commercial aviation will be the subjects of concurrent
sessions from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST. Vertical lift and unmanned
aircraft systems will be featured in concurrent sessions from 1:30
p.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST. On the second day, roundtable members will
gather from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST for a plenary session featuring
reports from the previous day's discussions.
Discussion topics were identified at the first roundtable meeting in
August 2011. Four teleconferences, organized by sector, were
conducted in December 2011. A third roundtable meeting is anticipated
later this year.
News media interested in attending the roundtable should contact the
National Research Council's Office of News and Public Information at
202-334-2138 or news@nas.edu. Space is limited.
NASA has a long history of aeronautics research for public benefit.
Through scientific study, NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission
Directorate works to find practical solutions to the problems of
flight. In the past six years, the directorate has revitalized its
aeronautics research investment portfolio with a back-to-basics
philosophy balanced by a growing portfolio of systems-level research
efforts that ensures excellence in broad-based fundamental research
with robust mechanisms for community participation.
For information about the Aeronautics Research and Technology
Roundtable, visit:
http://sites.
For information about NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, visit:
http://www.aeronautics.nasa.
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NASA to Deliver Commercial Research Equipment to Station
HOUSTON -- NASA, Astrium Space Transportation and NanoRacks LLC areteaming up to expand the research capability of the International
Space Station through delivery of a small commercial centrifuge
facility that will conduct molecular and cellular investigations on
plant and animal tissue.
The centrifuge enhances NanoRacks' existing suite of lab equipment
aboard the space station, which includes microscopes and a plate
reader used to detect biological, chemical or physical activity in samples.
Astrium Space Transportation handed over the research centrifuge to
NanoRacks LL, during a ceremony Tuesday, Feb. 14 in Houston. Astrium
North America adapted the centrifuge -- originally built by Kayser
Italia for use on space shuttle missions -- for use in the station's
NanoRacks Platform-3. The commercial research team funded the centrifuge.
NASA will deliver the centrifuge as part of its responsibility to
provide transportation for U.S. National Laboratory research and
facilities to the space station.
Under its partnership with Astrium, NanoRacks will add the centrifuge
to the two racks of laboratory support equipment already on the
station. The centrifuge is sized to fit the standard NanoRacks
architecture, which can fly on any launch vehicle.
"This is an important step in the expansion of National Lab facilities
aboard the space station," said Marybeth Edeen, U.S. National
Laboratory manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center. "Having companies
develop research and facilities for the National Lab with their own
funding demonstrates the beginnings of the commercial space
marketplace that the National Lab was created to serve."
The platform and centrifuge were produced in a short time at low cost.
Both NanoRacks and Astrium expect announcements in the near future
about more joint projects.
NASA has manifested the NanoRacks-3 platform and the Astrium
centrifuge on a Russian Progress cargo ship scheduled for launch in
summer 2012 under its cargo agreements with the Russian Federal Space Agency.
For more information about the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
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NASA Completes Publication of Boris Chertok's Rockets and People Memoir Series
WASHINGTON - NASA's History Program Office has released the fourthvolume of the English translation of Russian space pioneer Boris
Chertok's highly acclaimed memoirs, Rockets and People: The Moon Race.
Much has been written in the West on the history of the Soviet space
program but few Westerners have read direct first-hand accounts of
the men and women who were behind the many Russian accomplishments in
exploring space. The memoirs of academician Chertok, who worked under
the legendary Sergey Korolev, fill that gap.
Covering the dramatic years of the Soviet human space program from
1968-1974, this fourth volume addresses the development of the
mammoth N-1 booster - the Soviet competitor to the U.S. Saturn V moon
rocket. Chertok also discusses the origins of the Soviet space
station program, from Salyut to Mir. In addition, he examines the
tragic Soyuz 11 mission and provides an overview of the birth of the
Energiya-Buran space shuttle program. His account provides a
fascinating inside look at the political, technological, and personal
conflicts at a time when the Soviet space program was at its zenith.
From 2001 until his death in December 2011 at age 99, Chertok worked
with translators and series editor professor Asif Siddiqi, who is
associate professor of history at Fordham University, N.Y., and a
leading expert on the Soviet space program. Chertok re-organized the
material, and made substantial additions and corrections, with the
goal of making the NASA-published English language edition the
definitive version of his memoirs. Siddiqi annotated all four volumes
to make the complexities of the Soviet space program and the
intricacies of Russian culture clear to an English-speaking audience.
"This book is not merely the culmination of a decade of work by the
author and editorial team, it is a fascinating and highly readable
insight into the Soviet space program and the all too human people
who brought us the space race," said NASA Chief Historian Bill Barry.
For more biographical information about Chertok, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/
To download the publication free of charge, visit:
http://go.nasa.gov/A7Pct3
For more information about NASA history, visit:
http://history.nasa.gov
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
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